Schools to wait until morning to decide if classes are canceled

COLUMBIA — Columbia Public Schools plan to make the call tomorrow morning at the earliest about whether schools will close Wednesday.

"We always follow our same procedure unless it's an extenuating circumstance," Community Relations Coordinator Michelle Baumstark said, "We'll just have to monitor the weather, and at this point it's likely that it won't be 'til the morning."

Baumstark also said that road conditions are one of the biggest factors in deciding whether to close schools because buses must be able to transport students safely. Other factors include wind chill, temperature and the weather forecast for the day.

Once the decision has been made, Columbia Public Schools will send notices via text and e-mail alert systems, announcements on their cable access channel, posts on their website and alerts sent to all local media outlets.